Federer to face Romanian qualifier Copil in Basel final

Tennis champ Roger Federer says he was given an impossibly short time frame to make a decision on whether he would commit to the new-look Davis Cup.

A wonderful forehand sealed the opener for the home favourite, who was again forced to come from behind in the second.

Just as Federer looked to be settling into form after almost 30 unforced errors in the opening set, more disruption ensued.

The second set produced five breaks of serve - three to Simon and two to Federer - before the Frenchman, ranked 32nd, held serve in the 10th game to level the match at 1-1.

Victory was the 37-year-old Federer's 71st at the event. While Federer hasn't withdrawn from the tournament officially, speculations are rife that he might choose to skip the tournament in order to keep himself fresh for the season-ending ATP Tour Finals, starting November 11.

Standing between Federer and what would be his ninth career title at his hometown tournament is the unfancied Copil, who beat world number six Marin Cilic earlier in the week. His second career runner-up finish, both this season, earned nearly 210,000 euros ($239,000).

It was also a great week for Copil, now ranked No. 93, who is in line to rise above his career-best ranking of No. 73 when the new list is published on Monday.

"But I kept my cool and got the job done".

The first-set tiebreaker was likely to be crucial given Copil's career record of 8-52 when losing the opening set in top-tier matches.

He clinched on his fourth chance when Medvedev netted from the baseline. Federer, the world No. 3, took a 3-0 advantage in the decisive set but was broken at love to even it at 4-4 before pulling away for victory. Federer celebrated with a shout and a pump of his right fist.

To achieve that, however, he'll have to face top-seeded Roger Federer, who breezed past seventh-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

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